A local football team looking to help men get fit and assist others who may be suffering mental health issues have received new strips.

Tubby FC had agreed to play a friendly against Whitehaven Miners Social Club’s under-18s, and as they arrived at the ground they discovered that their opponents had donated an entire lot of kit to them.

Kevin Young of Tubby FC said: “We arranged a friendly after Lee Coan reached out and the players were more than keen to help out.”

When asked about why the decision to donate the kits was made, Mr Coan answered: “I’m a member of Tubby FC’s Facebook group and saw them playing in red t-shirts. When the game was arranged the U18 coach mentioned that they had spare kits that they could provide and we were more than happy to pass them over. We want to see people out playing football and seeing how Tubby FC help out others who are wanting to with their own health and mental wellbeing makes it all worthwhile.”

Discussing the creation of Tubby FC, Kevin said: “We formed a matter of weeks ago in Mirehouse. Our motto is that we’re a group of larger than life gentleman playing the game that we love. We wanted to start a team for men that may have high BMIs, some maybe used to have played competitively and some may just want to get healthy. We also have players who may be suffering from mental health difficulties, and we want them to know that this is a safe space to play. It’s good crack and the team enjoy playing.”

The young team may have taken the victory, but everyone decided that football was the real winner. Talking about the game, Lee said: “It was a game of two halves! The young lads showed their pace and agility in the first half but the boys at Tubby FC started to use their footballing brains in the second period and started playing deep, making it tough for the boys to score. The club are a credit to themselves with the way they set out to help others. I take my hat off to them.”

If you are interested in joining Tubby FC, contact Kevin Young on 07425 157764.